Shear Failure of Seabed Induced by Wave at the Chengdao Sea, the Yellow River Estuary

Abstract

The shear failure mechanism induced by wave of seabed at the Chengdao Sea was analyzed, one model to calculate the shear failure was established, and the factor of safety of shear failure at the different locations was calculated, some conclusions were gotten: (1) The shear stress at the seabed induced by wave and gravity along the submarine slope are the main triggers to cause shear failure, and the shear stress at the seabed surface induced by wave and currents can be ignored; (2) At extreme sea conditions, the shear failure regions are mainly distributed within the north-west and south-east. The shear failure depth of north-west area is within 4m, and that at south-east is relatively large, beyond 4m in depth. (3) The shear failure of Chengdao Sea was mainly controlled by wave stress in seabed. The shear failure region and depth calculated in this paper can be referred in oil engineering facilities design and construction.